Labor market pooling and human capital investment decisions

Abstract: "Of the typically cited agglomeration advantages labor market pooling receives strong empirical support - yet remains under-explored theoretically. This paper presents a model of human capital formation in an imperfectly competitive, pooled local labor market with heterogeneous workers and firms. Firms produce for a competitive output market with differing technologies, thus requiring diverse skills. In anticipation of firm behavior, workers choose between specializing into specific skills and accumulating general human capital. While labor market pooling provides static efficiency gains, our approach also suggests that there are long-term effects: under a diversified industrial structure, industry-specific shocks lead to a labor market pooling advantage which raises the incentive for workers to acquire both general and specific human capital. This will not only strengthen a region's capability to adapt to change but will also contribute to higher growth." (author's abstract)

Object Details

• Alternative title: Arbeitsmarkt-Pooling und Entscheidungen für Investitionen in Humankapital
• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource, 45 S.
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Preprint ; nicht begutachtet

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: IAB Discussion Paper: Beiträge zum wissenschaftlichen Dialog aus dem Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung ; Bd. 4/2008

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Nürnberg
• (when): 2008
• Creator: Amend, Elke ; Herbst, Patrick
• Contributor: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (IAB)

Further information

• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-294151
• Rights: Open Access unbekannt; Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:34 AM CEST